Electrical Energy (OCR AS Physics): Revision Note

Electrical Energy Transfer

• The electrical power is also defined as the rate of change of work done:

• The work done is the energy transferred

  • The power is, therefore, the energy transferred per second in an electrical component

• Rearranging the energy and power equation, the energy can be written as:

W = Pt = IVt

• Where:

  • W = Work done / energy transferred (J)

  • P = power (W)

  • V = voltage (V)

  • I = current (A)

  • t = time (s)

Calculating the Cost of Energy & The Kilowatt-hour (kWh)

• The power of an appliance is:

  The amount of energy transferred (by electrical work) to the device every second

The power consumption of an electrical appliance can be found on a label that looks like this. This kettle uses between 2500 and 3000 W of electrical energy

• This energy is commonly measured in kilowatt-hour (kW h), which is then used to calculate the cost of energy

  • This is used to calculate electricity bills

• A kilowatt-hour is defined as:

  A unit of energy equal to 1 kW of power sustained for 1 hour

• Or as an equation:

Energy (kW h) = Power (kW) × Time (h)

• Since the usual unit of energy is joules (J), this is the 1 W in 1 s

• Therefore:

1 kW h = 1000 W × 3600 s = 3.6 × 10⁶ J

• Since 1 kW = 1000 W and 1 h = 3600 s

• To convert between Joules and kW h:

kW h  × (3.6 × 10⁶) = J

J  ÷ (3.6 × 10⁶) = kW h

• The kW h is a large unit of energy, and mostly used for energy in homes